Lebanon on the Brink Our World

on-going Syrian civil war is destabilising Lebanon. With

sectarian tensions escalating across the country, Nahed Abouzeid

investigates a Lebanon teetering on the brink of an intra-religious war.

Last month as the laugh admitted to sending fighters across the border

to battle the rebels inside Syria. This has raised sectarian tensions

in Lebanon on the crisis levels. Communities are arming themselves in

preparation for the coming storm. Levin on once seen as one of the

world 's premier holiday destinations is now teetering on the

brink of disaster. I was born and grew up in Lebanon on. Back then,

the country was fighting a vicious civil war between Christians and

muscle is. Muslins. It lasted 15 years and 11 has rebuilt itself and

they route is seen is the Paris of the middle east. Now the civil war

in Syria is spilling across the border threatening to plunge Levin

on into chaos again -- Levin on. -- Levin on. -- nine. Sectarian

violence between you slam is the nightmare. You slam. You slam. Is

politics and violence within its neighbours. This is the frontier

town in Syria. Until recently it was a rebel stronghold attracting anti-

Islamic militants from across the world. Now it is devastated and

abandoned. Behind me is the administrative director at of this

district. It stands with this to the disruption that the area has seen.

In June this year the Syrian regime launched a successful attack to

recapture the town from the rebels. Alongside government troops there

were fighters from the Lebanese Shi'ite organisation Hezbollah.

Fighting the rebels was a new chapter for the organisation which

had originally been configured for confronting Israel. Some crusaders

were locals saying that under the rebels the town had become a magnet

for foreign jihad tests and Islamic militants believed in fighting a

holy war and so they appreciate Hezbollah and its involvement to win

undisguised intervention from Hezbollah fighters caused a

sectarian backlash across the border in Lebanon on. These refugees from

Syria came from this small town following the battle for leading for

their lives now living in squalor just inside the Lebanese northern

border. They are furious with Hezbollah for the interference

used to admire Hezbollah for resisting Israel but now sees their

see smoke rising from the Syrian side with the Government forces

shelling a few targets a few miles away. There would be no doubt more

dead and more refugees as a result. Both sides in this conflict pay a

heavy price. This is the kind of Valley in eastern Levin on a few

miles away from the border. He was in his 20s when he died fighting for

as colour. These posters memorise his death. -- commemorate his death.

His brother consoled himself with the idea that his brother paid the

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ultimate price so that the rest of call the dead martyrs. There is

don't often speak but after negotiations and contact in them I

met one who had fought and was prepared to talk as long as we heed

his identity saying it was a bitter fighting Syria -- has blah -- has

blah -- Hezbollah, they have been firing rockets into Lebanese

territory in revenge for the intervention. This allegedly shows

them in action. I was taken by them to the site of what they said was a

rocket strike in this valley. This olive grove had been set on fire by

rockets and they said other strikes have killed people including a young

woman. Her father told me he holds Sunni extremist responsible for the

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death of his daughter. He strongly but the Shia Muslims here are

Hezbollah supporters but also affiliated with tribes and clans who

have been feuding with the local Sunni Muslims for years. Just how

volatile things can get became apparent when we tried to film a

funeral procession of a Hezbollah supporter after he suffered. We were

told it would be OK to take teachers but things turned ugly and our

cameraman was attacked. Some of the gunmen jumped out of their cars and

roughed up the cameraman and talk one of the memory card is. That

shows how tense this area can be. Things are looking grim in the north

of Lebanon but my next destination was Tripoli which has seen a

constant stream of armed clashes which predate or its self. Most of

the population in Tripoli are Sunni Muslims and support the rebels but

Alawite is a crowded onto a hilltop community. They are loyal to the

regime in Damascus. We are now driving along the frontline between

two warring communities. There's two of them, the Alawite is on the other

is the majority of the Saudi inhabitants. In this street, Syria

Street, the one issue that is dividing Lebanon. This is what it

looks like when the Sunnis and the Alawite is go to war. The gunmen are

shooting up the hill and the Alawite is supporting President al-Assad are

shooting at them. The hapless Lebanese army is supposed to be

keeping the peace. My guide in this district is a local preacher and a

gunmen who runs his own mission. He blames the supporters of resident

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a whole generation. This man says his son is following a whole new

the pro- Asad Alawite community mirror the neighbour's fears. This

man has been a militia fighter since the 1970s. He see things only

communities are under arms. Street protest, rate the falling on both

sides. Fighting your neighbours has become a way of life here. These

gunmen might look intimidating, but they are marked simply to protect

their identities. They are ordinary men with normal jobs and families at

home. But many local men feel they have no option but to pick up arms

to defend their communities, because the forces of law and order

seemingly cannot do so. It is a vicious circle. This is one of the

many frontlines between two warring communities. But for someone like

me, who has lived through 70 years of war during the civil war in

Lebanon on, it is all coming back. It actually feels a scary. Suddenly,

we learn from Twitter that more clashes has broken up in trip that

have broken up in Tripoli. In a completely different part of the

city. The instability was spreading. A local man offered to guide us into

combat zone. Say are fighting inside. Normally busy streets were

empty. Locals watched anxiously from to dangerous to pursue. Instead, the

Lebanese army put on a show of strength. Be managed to contain the

across the country. In this southern Lebanese city, a cynic -- a Sunni

Islamist group was holding a rally and concert in aid of the Syrian

rebels. This is my city. I grew up here. Several years ago, this city

was the melting pot of all religious communities living together. I went

to school with Jews, Christians, Muslims, Sunni, Shi'ites. This is

the first time I have seen one particular religious group rally so

many people to support the cause of the Syrian revolution. May be in

those years, something has changed in this city. Speakers denounced

Hezbollah and sang in praise of the Syrian rebels. One of the organisers

summed up the feelings of many here. It was Hezbollah's involvement

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in Syria that was immobilising elements present in the city. This

city is also where I caught up with this man. And outspoken in anti-

Hezbollah Sunni cleric. When I met him, he told me that his mosque was

being spied on and threatened by Hezbollah agents based in some

nearby flats. He had to go it turned out, he knew something the

rest of us did not. One week after giving this interview, his gunmen at

TAC the Lebanese army. He took to social media, calling for his

followers to help defend his people After two days of heavy fighting, at

least 18 Lebanese soldiers were killed, along with about 40 of his

gunmen. He was on the run. His mosque was destroyed and his country

was looking closer than ever to a renewed civil war. But Hezbollah

supporters say their side did not Teran is and is used to mobilise and

control communities. -- sectarianism. It can easily spin out

of control. Lebanon on is an old society. Many people have access to

guns and heavy weapons. It is easy to obtain more. We are on our way to

meet an arms dealer in Beirut. It is extremely high risk. But as long as

there is demand, there would always be people like him to provide the

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regional politics. Syria, the country's against neighbour, remains

the key to Lebanon on's fate. The civil war is passing its shadow

across the entire Middle East. As the same sun sets over Beirut and